People in Bristol Warren Regional School District meet interim superintendent

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BRISTOL, R.I. (WLNE) – After a challenging year in the Bristol Warren Regional School District, folks are getting up close and personal with Dr. Jonathan Brice: the newest person selected to lead the school district – for the time being.

The school committee selected Brice last week to take on the role of interim superintendent, following the resignation of the former superintendent Mario Andrade last month.

“It’s definitely been a year of challenges and changes for the Bristol Warren Regional School District,” said Chair of the School Committee Erin Schofield. “He is an excellent fit for this district at this time of transition.”

Those challenges are mostly disciplinary in nature according to some parents and students present at a meet-and-greet with Brice on Monday night.

“Discipline is a big one,” said parent Brenda Vega, who is involved in the advocacy group known as Parents Accomplishing Change. “Lot of issues happening, parents bring it to their attention, it’s kind of getting swept under the rug and not really taken care of.”

Teachers in the district have dealt with students interrupting classes, roaming the halls, and bullying, creating safety concerns for staff.

Those teachers even went so far as to stage a sick-out back in February to highlight these issues and ask for more support.

“A lot of kids don’t listen when teachers ask them to do something,” said one student. “They’ll just continue to do it because they don’t get much of a punishment.”

At the meeting Brice vowed to the crowd to do his best to make changes, and to start assessing the situation by going straight to the students first.

“My job is to come in, to listen, and to hear exactly what took place, to find out what’s working, what’s not working, and then to very rapidly put together a plan so that we can prevent the situations that occurred last year, but most importantly that we’re taking care of our young people,” said Brice.

Brice has worked in education in several states over the last 26 years.

He says he plans to apply for the permanent superintendent job once the district starts that process, but for now is focused on the upcoming year.

A representative with the teachers union said at the meeting Monday that they’re looking forward to working collaboratively with Brice.

©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2019